


When the darkness comes

by Everlarked



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Everlark Drabble Challenge, F/M, Tumblr: promptsinpanem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2014-12-21
Packaged: 2018-03-02 16:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2819012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everlarked/pseuds/Everlarked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The days get darker at the end of the year and Peeta decides it is time for some light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When the darkness comes

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the Hunger Games.  
> This drabble was inspired by the song 'When the darkness comes' from Colbie Caillat.

I'll be here waiting  
Hoping, praying that  
This light will guide you home  
When you're feeling lost I'll leave my love  
Hidden in the sun  
For when the darkness comes

The days are getting darker as the year comes to its end. The end of the second year in a freed Panem. It also means the second anniversary of our new country. And the anniversary of our country means the anniversary of Prim’s death. That fact darkens our days just as much as the night sky does. It’s dark when I get up in the morning to leave for the bakery. It’s dark when I get home. And when I enter our house, I find Katniss buried under several throw blankets on the couch. Another day in which she didn’t move. Another lost day. The memory of Prim and the feeling of loss is wearing her down, bringing her into a deep depression. It’s just like last year, when she didn’t leave our bed for days. Her catatonic state worries me but I have no idea how to fix it. Dr. Aurelius says she needs to go through the motions and it will take time. I get that, and I understand the pain she feels, but it’s been two years, and that it still gets her down like this makes me feel anxious and at a loss. Because I can’t help her. And it pains me that I’m not able to pull her out of it. Of course she’ll always feel the pain of missing her sister, but that it wears her down like this makes me feel like a failure, to be honest. I want to lift her darkness, bring in the light, but I don’t know how.

If it weren’t this dark and this cold outside, that would make such a difference. It started snowing too, about a week ago, which makes the world look beautiful. But since it gets dark around four in the afternoon, there’s no time to enjoy it. We need light. Katniss needs light to guide her out of her darkness. And I need it too, to know there is still some good in this world, that not everything is covered in darkness and the gloom of depression.  
One day as I’m heading home from the bakery I see the stars reflected in the snow, making everything glitter and that’s when I get the idea. Lights! I could buy them. And instead of big bright lights from a lantern post, I’m thinking of a million small ones, like the stars. Strings of light which I could attach to the house, to every house in the Victor’s Village. And wrap around the lanterns and fasten to the statue in the fountain. I will wrap the entire village in a million lights, to make the darkness disappear. And hopefully, I’ll see it reflected in Katniss’s silver eyes. I’m thinking she’ll like it. She hates darkness almost as bad Haymitch does. 

Once inside the house I go to the study and make a phone call to Effie in the Capitol. She is instantly excited about my idea. Effie tells me she could get hundreds of strings with small lights on them for me. “They were all the rage in the Capitol, before,” she says, “I don’t know if they still make them, but I have boxes full of the stuff, inherited from my parents. They owned several hotels in the Capitol, and in the winter they’d always decorate all their buildings with lights. So many lights, I’m sure it will be enough for the Victor’s Village.”  
“That would be great, Effie,” I say, “I need to bring some light into our world. I need to create a place where we can hide from the darkness.”  
“You know what, I’ll go and pack them and send them to you immediately,” Effie replies enthusiastic. “This way you can have them in a day.”  
“Thanks so much,” I answer, “It really means a lot to me.”  
“Anything for my victors, Peeta,” she smiles and she hangs up the phone.

The next day I go straight from work to the train station. There stands a huge package in the office. “You’ll need a cart of some sort to take this with you, Mellark,” the office manager tells me. “Here, you can take this one, as long as you bring it back first thing tomorrow morning.”  
“Will do, thanks,” I say and I load up the package on the cart and wheel it to the Victor’s Village. When I arrive there Haymitch comes out of his house. “Peeta! What on earth did you do?” he asks.  
“I’m bringing in the light,” I tell him, “Can you give me a hand?”  
Haymitch helps me load off the package and opens it. It contains several boxes labeled with ‘Christmas lights.’  
“What are Christmas lights?” Haymitch asks. I shrug, never heard of the word before. I find the note Effie wrote and in it she explains that Christmas was the name of a holiday, celebrated at the end of December before the dark days.  
“Hmm, maybe we should introduce that again,” Haymitch says as I tell him what Effie wrote. Apparently the holiday included decorating a tree, getting presents for everybody and having dinner together with your family and friends.  
“It sounds like an interesting holiday,” I agree, “Although it seems weird to decorate a tree.”  
“There are worse games to play,” says Haymitch. “So what’s the plan?”  
“The plan is to decorate the village with these lights,” I tell him. 

Together we start working on it. Every house gets a string of Christmas lights and we wrap them around the lanterns and the fountain. Haymitch suggests to decorate the pine tree in his garden as well. “That’s what we’re supposed to do, right?”  
When we’re done it’s time to switch them on. The lights are all connected to one switch which I can control. I’m actually excited but before we turn on the lights I go into my house to find Katniss. She needs to be there, to witness it. She’s lying in bed, but the circles under her eyes tell me she hardly slept today. Last night consisted out of several nightmares and she’s exhausted but awake when I enter the room.  
“Katniss, I’ve got something for you.” I tell her.  
She looks up and gives me a hint of a smile, which makes my heart leap. At least she’s still smiling at me.  
“What is it?” she asks.  
“Come, I have to show you,” I reach out my hand to her and she grabs it. After she’s dressed I take her outside to the middle of the Victor’s Village, where Haymitch is waiting for us. I take her hand in mine and look in her eyes. “The darkness of these days got me thinking,” I start my little speech, “We need light. You need light. I want you to know that I don’t want to push you, take as much time as you need. Just remember that I’ll be here, waiting, hoping and praying that this light will guide you home.”

With that I switch on the lights. The result is magnificent! Katniss lets out a gasp in surprise and even Haymitch is astonished. The entire Village is bathing in a million small lights. Every house, every lamp post. The lights are all different colors, green, blue, yellow and purple. It looks absolutely amazing. Katniss is turning around, taking it all in and then fixes her gaze on me. I see her silver eyes shining when she looks at me. “Thank you,” she whispers, “This is really beautiful.” She goes to stand on her tiptoes and kisses me on my lips. In answer I wrap my arms around her and pull her close to me.  
“This is my promise to you,” I tell her, “That when you’re feeling lost I’ll leave my love hidden in the sun, for when the darkness comes.”


End file.
